style

The development of the porcelain industry in Japan was largely benefited from the
political turmoil at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in China.

In its beginning time, between 1610 and 1650, an early Imari porcelain, also known as
shoki-Imari was decorated only in under glazed blue with simple & primitive decoration.

Around 1640's, a coloring method on porcelain was introduced to the Arita makers
from China. This porcelain with over glazed color decoration was named as iroe or
akae which literally means a picture with colors. About the same period, the country of
China was in the middle of the civil war and most of their porcelain kilns were
destroyed. The Dutch East India Company, an exporter of the Chinese porcelain to
Europe, needed to fill their orders from the other sauces out of China. In 1659, the Arita
kilns in Hizen had received a large order from the company.

In the 1670s, Kakiemon style was developed by the Arita potters especially for export,
which is characterized by an elegant colored decoration of animals & people and, also
kacho-zu (a painting of a bird with flowers in an asymmetrical form). The body of the
Kakiemon porcelain is known as nigoshide resembling translucent milky white water
after rice is washed.

In the 1690s, this Kakiemon style was soon replaced by the kinran-de style of more
dense decoration divided by a section painted in red, gold, blue & other colors; a word,
kinran-de derives from a luxurious silk garment woven or embroidered with gold
threads.
The other style of a porcelain similar to this Kinrande-style which was more or less
created to suit European's taste of that era, was nishiki-de or some-nishiki porcelain to
target a domestic market. "Nishiki-de" means "in a style of a colorful weaving " and
some-nishiki means nishiki-de with sometsuke ( blue & white ) decoration.
After the kinran-de porcelian brought Imari a fame and a success, Japan's domestic
market also started to grow, stimulated by a bubbling economy in the cities surrounding
the major sea ports, where a newly rich merchant was seeking after a luxury good.
Beautifully decorated porcelain was shipped out of the Imari port to Kyoto, Osaka and
Edo. During the Genroku period (1688-1703), Imari porcelain had reached to its
highest peak of quality and prosperity.

Most of the Imari products exported in the early Edo period was produced in the
province of Nabeshima-han ; a "han" in Japanese stands for a feudal domain ruled by
the lord. To protect a secret method of making porcelain ware, Nabeshima Han had
regulated the numbers of the potters and the painters of each workshop, also a process
was divided into the separate stages and each of them was run by a different family
factory only to prevent one person or one particular family to hold an entire knowledge.
Especially, hanyo which means an exclusive kiln owned by and operated for the lord
was guarded with an absolute secrecy.

The kiln owned by the Nabeshima-han is known as Nabeshima, famous of its high
quality porcelain of extraordinary beauty. The other hanyo close to Nabeshima is the
Mikawachi kiln operated by Hirado-han, also known as Hirado.

In the 1680s, when China started to recover from the destruction of the civil war, a new
emperor, Kangxi (1654-1722) was able to rebuild a porcelain kiln and re-start an export
trade once again. This, in return, had caused a significant decline in Japanese exports.
And, a strict export regulation of the Tokugawa government also known as sakoku
started to take a charge in Japan. The export business had become very risky and
extremely limited. Under these circumstances, in the 18th century, a domestic market
became the main focus of their trade. Various dishes in many sizes and different
shapes were introduced to the market, and also, an inexpensive everyday type china
was sent to the food vendors and the homes of lower working class of the people
throughout Japan. Meanwhile more porcelain kilns were started in other parts of Kyushu
outside of Hizen such as Hasami kilns in Omura Han which produced low cost,
run-of-the-mill types of dishes in quantity.

In the later 18th century, when a plenty of porcelain products were circulated in the
Japanese market, the pottery makers outside of Kyushu felt urgent needs to learn the
methods of making porcelain to catch up with the newer trend. Before too long, they too
started to produce the beautiful porcelain wares in Seto, Kaga, Kyoto & other places.
The porcelain which used to be the objects of rarity and luxury, strictly forbidden to the
commoners of the Edo society rapidly flooded into the everyday life of all classes in
Japan. In other words, the privilege which they held so many years in Hizen had ended.

Somenishiki Bowl

Ko Imari

IMARI

The development of the Ko Imari Styles